Finavia

If BA are seriously trying to convince us that by keeping lounges closed, reducing the onboard food and beverage service and the array of other measures put in place are to minimise the risk of spreading the virus, the least it could do is maybe double the amount of Avios accrued from each flight.

Chris_G

Utterly and predictably grim...and pretty well in line with my post that discussed these issues...and for the record here it is again:

1. Forget the silly Perspex screen separations and middle seat empty...it'll never work for safety reasons and economics
2. Class separation will be based not on little luxuries or leg room, but on how much tolerance is granted for you to move around the aircraft without permission.
3. In Y the seat belt sign will be on virtually permanently and you'll need to ask permission to exit your seat for any reason, including the use of the toilet.
4. In J and F more tolerance will be allowed to make your own decision...its what you've paid for.
5. Aisle seats sold at a premium. No BAEC level will allow for free seat selection.
6. Cabin crew work areas will be strictly designated...and as a passenger you'll be prevented from entering for any reason. No chatting up the stewardess.
7. Face masks will be compulsory at all times and in all classes except when consuming food or drink. More tolerance in J and F.
8. Meals (such as they are) will be cold, in a cardboard box and handed out by crew in PPE. Only in J and F will hot meals will be served...its what you've paid for.
9. No booze in Y, but available at meal times in J and F...but outside of meal times by use of call bell only. You can't just wander down to the Club kitchen as it won't exist.
10. Boarding will be by rows located furthest back in the aircraft...to prevent people squeezing unnecessarily past each other. No more passengers in Y trooping past those in J.
11. Similar for exiting.
12. Hand luggage rules rigorously applied and use of disinfectant spray tunnels.
13. Body temperatures taken prior to passport control and prior to boarding
14. Contactless payment only.
15. Self check-in only with paperless boarding
16. High air fares the order to the day.

I said no booze and compulsory face masks...and I was right...

I'll tolerate a face mask for the good of one and all for a period of time...but 12 hours is a bit of a stretch...but with no booze...

Best to leave serious flying for at least a year...

Chris

Geordie405

I agree with a lot of what has been said about the new BA commercial being largely all spin and no substance, as well as what andymcdonnell said about these being deliberate choices on the part of BA. I don't understand why they can't offer a more meaningful inflight F&B service, and have a degree of differentiation between classes. I see no reason why alcoholic beverages can't be available either. I was able to have a drink the other week on AA on a short-haul service and I don't see why BA can't manage to do the same on long-haul flights.

The airline industry is on its knees at the moment and needs all the help it can get. Reducing the on board service levels to such basic levels won't entice people to fly with BA. It will actively drive them to look at alternative carriers. I appreciate that from a H&S perspective there needs to be a way to minimise the number of interactions between crew and passengers but if you're walking the length of the cabin handing out a pretty poor packed lunch to each passenger is there any real difference if you're handing out a single tray meal instead?

I can understand the current lounge closures and that when they reopen it will likely be a different format from what we're used to - but I strongly believe that we will continue to see the perks of status in the new world. These are the ways that airlines stand out from each other and reward their frequent fliers. We make travel choices based on what we perceive to be subtle differences between different carriers' offerings. The longer BA continues with a bare bones service the more likely people will be to choose someone else to fly with.

Flying is meant to be fun. For me, it's not just about getting from A to B. I aim to enjoy the whole experience, including the lounge, a drink before departure, nice food and wine on board etc. If BA no longer offers that, or anything substantially approaching it, then I won't be the only one looking at alternatives.

cameramaker

I really don’t see the difference between the touch points of handing out those pizza boxes versus a version of a CE band 4 meal.

Sometimes the hot meal is served to you with the foil still on. Why can’t they serve this to you but without the bread? Everything else is sealed.

In fact, economy meals are all sealed too.

This just smacks of BA throwing the towel in and cost cutting rather than virus concerns. If they can serve that pizza then they can serve their usual microwave meals. In fact it’d actually be a service improvement which’d cut out the wasteful tooing and froing to the galley to dish out each plate one at a time.

Crampedin13A

Struggling to see any point right now being an elite with BA or buying anything but the cheapest WT or ET. In the early 80's recession that hit Canada hard I was doing a lot of Y TATL flying on empty planes. Could normally find an empty row to lay across the floor especially in non smoking. At least then you got free booze and 2 meals. Why pay anything but the cheapest fare now? The lawn chairs in Y now have armrests that lift so no need for the floor even

golfmad

Are you confusing your vegan and vegetarian?

https://veganpeak.com/is-mozzarella-vegan/

BAeuro

I’m sure when flying resumes to a meaningful level, BA will reinstate proper catering. If this is still the offering by December then I give up!

DominicB

Why do we have to wait until then? This is not the case with so many of their competitors....

1K_

Very long time observer here. What has drawn me to make my first post was my incredulity at the "enhanced cleaning methods" section of the email.

I have been lucky enough these past few years to almost always have had a choice as to which airline I fly with on a particular occasion and also lucky enough to mainly fly in premium classes.

One of the key factors counting against BA for me, pre-Covid, was the clear lack of attention to cleanliness in their aircraft. The crumbs, the hair, the tissues, the used bandages, the used boarding passes, the sticky stuff on surfaces, etc... Yuck. I would systematically find these when flying with BA but not with the other airlines that I flew with.

I just hope that, in the future, BA's idea of "enhanced" cleaning actually means more cleaning and more cleanliness and is not their usual interpretation of "enhancement" that customers have often seen in service levels.

andymcdonnell

Virgin offer a kind of status challenge where they’ll match your BA status for a limited period but you need to have proof you earned your BA status and that you have a future Virgin (or partner) booking. Could suit you for TLV

Turkish offer status matches for BA for 3 months and once you fly with them in that period they extend it for up to 12 months. If you fly to ORD a lot then UA will recognise your Star gold

There’s probably others that I’m not aware of

testycal

I take no issue with this. However BA should be telling us that. Something along the lines of bear with us as we ramp up and return to the level of service you had before covid...it will be epic.

Maybe epic rearranged is short for? Every passenger is confused?.

crazyarmadillo

I still think that this is a very temporary measure, for lots of reasons.

Our next flight is August. Currently we are on a BA flight from England to America.

I expect and am pretty confident BA will adapt or have to adapt, when UK bars and restaurants open , to the food and beverage service. I assume that this will be July.

If it's not by August, we shall fly AA in August.

I'm not expecting that to happen though and would be extremely surprised, unless things in the UK take a backward step.

xenole

More likely they'll use something along the lines of "our customer feedback showed that they were happier with our enhanced catering, therefore we shall be maintaining this"

13901

Whilst I still can't get over the gross misuse of Italian language on that pizza box ("Primo gusto" means 'first taste'), I think BA are in good company. Dutch colleagues were saying similar things on KLM ("They even have stopped giving out the little houses!", said my boss), and Turkish airlines has pared down their offering as well, as per One Mile at a Time https://onemileatatime.com/turkish-a...ng-downgrades/

(Although I have to say that, as usual, even when coming out of a box TK's catering appears healthier, more appetising, visually appealing and more inviting than BA's. But alas BA is being very British in terms of food).

CX828

I just don't get this food and alcohol thing..... You can still provide proper food and drink options safely. Look at JV partner AA - offering same service as before, just with the exception of one tray service for the main meal in J.....

Why would you fly BA if you didn't have to? They won't even try and help customers who have 4 months or more of not being able to qualify and renew their status with the Executive Club. Nearly all perks with the Executive Club are "temporarily (how long?)" suspended.

I repeat, unless you have to. Why would you fly BA? CX/QR Eastbound and AA westbound is the way to go!